Customer Reviews

Beautiful

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Susie Gregg Fowler and her husband, Jim Fowler, create sanctuaries of compassion and beauty in their books. This is a story of a child whose love for his uncle is honored so honestly by his family that even in the uncle's illness and death there is room for joy, for beauty, for hope, for celebration of all that endures in the human soul. The story and pictures never fall off into sentimentality or glibness; every beautifully chosen word of the story, every illustration of the family and of the garden, carries one gently into the story of a family coming to terms with love and loss and the real work that must be done for a family to stay whole.

As a birthday present, Uncle George gives his nephew a gift of seeds and teaches the boy to plant and care for them. He is going away because of his sickness, but he expects to enjoy the flowers when he returns. "Now you take care of the seeds and wait for glory," he says. The boy waters and cares for the seeds, telephones when they shoot up, and waits eagerly for his uncle's return. When Uncle George comes home, he is very changed, and the doctors say they can do nothing more for him. But the boy regales him with details about the flowers about to bloom, and Uncle George whispers, "Ready for glory."

Uncle George moves into his uncle's room, and a few days later the boy visits the garden to find that his flowers have bloomed. He eagerly gathers an armful and presents them at his uncle's bedside. "Beautiful," his uncle responds. The story ends with a snapshot of two faces together, Uncle George holding the flowers, with two grins mirroring one another across the bouquet.

In this moving, thoughtful story, Fowler uses the flowers to commemorate the diligence and artistry of a much-beloved man who finishes his life with dignity, in the care of a loving family. Uncle George's craft brings goodness to the world, and he passes on his skills to his nephew, who in turn uses them to brighten his last days. The text is well-written, augmented by Jim Fowler's evocative pictures: the scrawled postcard from Uncle George on the fridge next to the shopping list, the tired grief on Mother's face as she explains that Uncle George cannot eat solid food, and the brightly beautiful flowers that balance the story's sadness with love.

Christian families, who look forward to eternal life will find this story especially meaningful. Adults can explain that Uncle George's life, bringing beauty to everyone he loves, will be continued in Heaven where sickness cannot touch him -- that just as the flowers' glory increase when they bloom, his life also comes into its fullness at the point of his death. This story may also help young children work through their feelings of grief at the loss of people who are dear to them. This is a serious book, but a satisfying one that is just right for an elementary audience.